Russell wary of ‘mighty impressive’ Ferrari after ‘challenging’ return to the podium in Barcelona

George Russell has admitted that, despite feeling satisfied with his podium finish at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, he and Mercedes need to “keep pushing” to resist the threat Ferrari have started to pose.

The Briton was on course to convert pole position to his first win since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but his chances fell away as Lewis Hamilton executed an immaculate three-stop strategy to secure a maiden victory with the Scuderia.

Russell subsequently had to settle for second place, which he almost lost to his team mate Kimi Antonelli before the Italian retired from the race, helping him recover some ground in the battle for the title.

Reflecting on the result, he said: “Firstly, huge congrats to [Hamilton] because I know how hard he works. We spent a lot of years together at Mercedes, so I’m really pleased to see him back to the Lewis I remember when I was growing up watching Formula 1.

“But yeah, a tough day, it’s good to be back on the podium and have a bit of a clean race from my side. Ferrari were mighty impressive today and we need to keep on pushing.

“Friday and Saturday were really strong and solid days for me, today was a little bit more challenging. Everything started off quite well, I felt good in the first stint, and then the last two stints it was a bit more difficult. But as I said, it’s good to be back here.”

After suffering a retirement in Canada and failing to score points in Monaco, returning to the podium marked a turning point in Russell’s fortunes and saw him decrease the deficit to Antonelli from 68 to 50 points.

Nevertheless, the weekend left him anticipating further challenges from Ferrari in future races, especially after Hamilton delivered such a strong performance with their most recent upgrades package.

He concluded: “Yesterday was a real surprise for us in the team, and then the pace today was insane from Lewis. So yeah, they’re coming I think.

“It’s good to get some points on the board. It’s not the race I would’ve wanted. At the moment, Lewis is also ahead of me in the Championship and their upgrades seem to be really strong.”